At the time of driving a vehicle backward, it is known to capture an image of a rear side state of the vehicle through an onboard camera and to display the captured image on a monitor device of a vehicle navigation system. Since the onboard camera is placed at the outside of the vehicle, for instance, dirt will likely adhere to a lens of the onboard camera. When the dirt adheres to the lens of the onboard camera, it is difficult to capture and see a clear image of the rear side state of the vehicle through the onboard camera.
In order to address the above disadvantage, for instance, JPH11-255018A teaches a washer apparatus that includes a nozzle and a pump. The nozzle sprays washer fluid over the lens of the onboard camera to wash the deposit adhered thereto, and the pump feeds the washer fluid to the nozzle. In this washer apparatus, an electric motor is energized synchronously with a back alarm and a back lamp by supplying an electric current from an electric power source circuit of the back alarm or the back lamp to the electric motor at the time of driving the vehicle backward. In this way, the onboard camera is automatically washed at the time of driving the vehicle backward without requiring manipulation of a switch by a driver of the vehicle for executing the washing operation.
The above washer apparatus includes the dedicated washer fluid tank and the dedicated pump, which are dedicated for the washing of the onboard camera. It may be easy to have a sufficient accommodation space for accommodating the components of the above washer apparatus in a case of large vehicles, such as a bus or truck. However, it is often difficult to have a sufficient accommodation space for the components of the above washer apparatus in a case of a compact passenger vehicle.
Furthermore, the dedicated washer fluid tank and the dedicated pump may result in an increase in the costs of the washer apparatus.
In the above washer apparatus, the electric motor can be energized through manipulation of a mechanical camera wash dedicated switch. In this way, the driver can wash the onboard camera while staying in the driver's seat through use of such a switch. However, the provision of the mechanical camera wash dedicated switch may cause the following disadvantage. Specifically, signal lines, which include signal lines associated with the camera wash dedicated switch, are complicated, thereby resulting in the increased costs. Furthermore, the mechanical camera wash dedicated switch may possibly result in confusion of the driver (user) with respect to the use of the camera wash dedicated switch (e.g., confusion with respect to the location of the camera wash dedicated switch, confusion with respect to operation of the camera wash dedicated switch) and/or may result in annoyance of the driver (user).
The mechanical camera wash dedicated switch of the washer apparatus may be added to a lever, in which other washer system switches (e.g., a wiper switch) are integrally provided. However, in such a case, at the time of manipulating the camera wash dedicated switch, the driver may possibly perform an erroneous manipulation of the switch or may experience confusion (e.g., confusion with respect to the identification of the camera wash dedicated switch, confusion with respect to operation of the camera wash dedicated switch). It is conceivable to place the camera wash dedicated switch to another location, such as a steering wheel, which is other than the lever where the washer system switches (e.g., the wiper switch) are integrally provided. However, even in such a case, the disadvantages, which are similar to those discussed above, may possibly occur. Furthermore, when the mechanical camera wash dedicated switch is provided, the costs of the washer apparatus for the vehicle may possibly be increased.